340 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 1&, 1895, 



turned over so as to hold it firmly. More surprised than 

 ever, Jim looked around for a cause of such results, when 

 his eye caught a little round hole through a 9in. quaking 

 asp tree, behind which the elk was when the shot was 

 fired. So the mystery was explained. Jim has the ball 

 and will keep it in memory of "one bull that he did not 

 get." 



And so the time passed all too quickly, with every day 

 some new adventure. But the time came to depart, and 

 we had to return once more to the byways of "men and 

 things," and wait with impatience the coming of another 

 fall when we can spend another month with the snow- 

 caps, and probably it will be in the Gunnison country. 



Per Se. 



CAYUGA LAKE WILD GEESE. 



In Forest and Stream of a recent date M. Chill, of 

 Ithapa, tells of some wild geese that wintered near there 

 last year. He cannot be very well posted about the 

 game of that section, or he would know that there are 

 at least two flocks which have wintered on Cayuga 

 Lake for the last ten years, and I do not know how 

 much longer. There have also been other flocks like the 

 one he mentions, which have stayed occasional winters. 

 I remember at least one flock that wintered near South 

 Lansing not over ten years ago. 



One of the regulars wintered on and near the farm of 

 E. Brown, of Aurora. The farm is about tbree miles 

 from the village. The other one spent its winter vaca- 

 tion on the Mitchell farm, near Lake Ridge. 



M. Chill speaks very slightingly of the goose and 

 would seem to imply that hunters were scarce when he 

 says, "A couple of hunters chanced that way and secured 

 five of the honkers." I suppose if his hunters had 

 chanced along they would have got all they could carry 

 of the fifty-four which I spent some time studying that 

 same winter near Lake Ridge. 



It happened this way: I had been teaching for some 

 time about two miles north of their feeding grounds be- 

 fore one of my boys found out accidentally that I liked 

 sport and kept guns. "Why," said he, "there is a large 

 flock of wild geese around "here. Why don't you shoot 

 them?" 



Well, I did not jump more than 2ft. high on account of 

 my official dignity. As soon as I got my nerves steadied 

 down I asked, "Where?" "Down on Mitchell's wheat 

 field." "Where is that?" He pointed the direction. 



That afternoon was one of the longest in the term; but 

 4 o'clock came at last. A quick trip home, a quicker 

 change of clothes, and the old 10-gauge and I were going 

 'cross lots through the snow as fast as possible. After 

 climbing innumerable wire fences, which abound in that 

 neighborhood, I came to a rail fence and a wheatfield. 

 While wondering whether it was the right one or not, I 

 heard somebody say: "Honk, honk, honk!" The second 

 time they spoke found me looking under the bottom rail of 

 that fence. I thought the scenery would be nicer viewed 

 that way, and it was; for in a minute or two ten geese 

 came up from the lake right toward me. The hammers 

 of that old 10-gauge came back mechanically. They kept 

 coming straight on until, just as I was bracing to give it 

 to them, they lit just out of range in the wheatfield and 

 began to feed one at a time, never more— the rest 

 watched. By and by there was more honking and the 

 same thing was repeated. They kept coming until there 

 were fifty-four of them there, just too far away — say 

 20rds. By that time three or four would feed at a time. 



Think of it! fifty-four big fat fellows walking around, 

 "so near and yet so far." 



Tantalus of old was nowhere to my feelings. 



By and by the novelty wore off and I began to get cold, 

 but dare not move for fear of scaring them away; so there 

 I had to stay in the snow until they got ready to go back 

 to the lake, at about dark. To encourage the poor hunt- 

 er one or another of them would start to come over to 

 the fence, but they never got there. Subsequently, on 

 going there after the snow was off, I found by their drop- 

 pings that they had never been within lOrds. of the fence. 



When home at last tired and hungry, the first move 

 was to get out my 201b. muzzleloading target rifle. A 

 careful examination showed that the barrel was in perfect 

 order and it seemed to be clear at any rate that I could 

 blow through it. 



This was a famous rifle which my grandfather had 

 made for long range target-shooting. One hundred rods 

 was not much more than point blank range for it. I had 

 got it for a keepsake, never expecting to use it much, as it 

 was too heavy. 



Daylight next morning saw the big gun mounted in a 

 fence corner. The geese were equally prompt in keeping 

 their engagement. Waiting until they were all there 

 and pretty well bunched, the rifle was brought to bear on 

 the neck of one of the foremost ones, which was in line 

 with a row of bodies. I took a last peep through the fine 

 globe sight and touched the hair trigger. 



Shades of Nimrod. Draw a veil over the scene that fol- 

 lowed. 



The cap snapped. 



The gun seemed clear when I loaded it, but it had 

 stood a long time. The grease kept the powder from 

 catching. 



That was only the beginning of a chapter of accidents 

 which befell me while trying to get one of thoBe geese. 

 Every night and morning saw me after them. The keen 

 delight with which I studied those geese can only be 

 known to a lover of nature. Sometimes I would take my 

 telescope and watch them all the afternoon of a Saturday 

 or Sunday. They would keep about in one place out in 

 the middle of the lake, only coming ashore to feed nights 

 and mornings or stormy days. 



They did not go back to the wheatfield any more, but 

 moved over to some large buckwheat fields. 



The last time I saw them, April 15, they were all there 

 yet, fifty-four of them. 



One day, in trying to get to the fence on one side of the 

 field where they were, I had to cross an old meadow 

 grown up to weeds; when I was part way across they saw 

 me or minded me and left. When I got up I had crawled 

 within fifteen rods of an old she fox, which I shot. She 

 was eating an old hen. The fox is not very easy to Btill- 

 hunt, yet those geese were scared at fifty rods, while the 

 fox did not see me at fifteen. 



They came back last year, but did not stay Ion g. I think 

 they must have had private advices from the clerk of the 

 weather which led them to winter in Mexico that year. 



Harry S. Howe. 



BOSTON HUNTERS OF MAINE GAME. 



Boston, Oct. 11.— The Maine hunting season is on in 

 full force, but it has taken several days for deer to get 

 into the Boston markets. They first appeared a day or 

 two ago. One waB an enormous doe. It must have 

 weighed nearly 3001bs. There were two others of smaller 

 size — yearlings, evidently. The owner of the store 

 admitted that the deer had just come from Maine, but as 

 to how and by whom he had nothing to say. Possibly a 

 couple of sportsmen have just returned, each with his 

 legal two deer, and have sold them in the market to help 

 eke our their expenses. Or possibly the underground 

 railroad for shipping game from Maine is to be in opera- 

 tion this season. After all, the only remedy is that pro- 

 posed by the Forest and Stream— stop the sale of game 

 in all markets. 



Mr. George Lanphier, who has delivered the Forest 

 and Stream to a good many patrons for a number of 

 years, is a sportsman as well as a newspaper man. He 

 started for Schoodic, Me. , Tuesday, on his fall shooting 

 trip. He is accompanied by his brother and a Mr. Tucker 

 and son. They go for large game. Mr. George Lanphier 

 has a record of a moose and a bear, taken on his shooting 

 trip two years ago. 



Talk about partridge shooting in Maine. Well, it can 

 be done. The birds are plenty, but it takes a smart 

 hunter and an excellent wing shot to get them. They 

 are fairly well able to take care of themselves, especially 

 in the sections that are considerably hunted. A Boston 

 gunner and a good shot from Auburn, Me., with a young 

 school-teacher of 17, also from Auburn, were out on Sat- 

 urday, in the town of Hebron, Oxford county. Moun- 

 tains, rocks and scrub spruces are plenty in that town. 

 The party started twenty-one partridges in all. They had 

 a good spaniel that treed the birds as well as any dog in 

 the world could do. But even when treed the partridges 

 in that town will not stand till the hunter is fairly in 

 sight. They know how to fly. For dodging behind a 

 scrub spruce, down the mountain or over the rocks and 

 ledges they have no equal. Instantaneous wing shooting 

 is the only way, and snap shots at that. This does not 

 bring the birds half the time. The party used a good 

 many shells, with the result of one bird, shot by J. F, 

 Moody, Jr., the young school-teacher. His record is 

 already six partridges since the open season begun, and 

 he has only Saturdays for shooting. 



Shooting in that part of Maine is peculiar. Oh, yes! A 

 couple of Boston gunners, or gunners from some other 

 town near that city, came down to Hebron the other day 

 with a view of hunting partridges for market. They had 

 a couple of well-trained dogs — a pointer and a setter. One 

 day's hunting over rocks and ledges, and in scrub spruces 

 and hemlocks so thick that a man can scarcely pene- 

 trate them, was sufficient to make them weary and their 

 dogs lame and footsore. They got not a bird, though 

 starting about the usual number. On the second morn- 

 ing they packed their grips, called their dogs and de- 

 parted in the direction of the railroad station, declaring 

 that the ground is too rough for either hunteis or dogs. 



Mr. Frank F. Dodge, of Stephen Dow & Co. , with hiB 

 cousin and camp partner, are just back from their fall 

 hunting and fishing trip to Nova Scotia. They built a 

 fine camp on Lake Debois last year, and are greatly 

 pleased with their location. They have secured by pur- 

 chase a high point of land for a camp site. The trout 

 fishing is good, and this fall they have been pleased with 

 the shooting. Partridges are so tame that their guide 

 caught one with a running noose at the end of a stick. 

 They were on a moose hunt and did not care to fire a 

 gun, and the guide took this method of catching birds 

 for the table. Black ducks they found to be fairly plenty, 

 though it is early in the season for them. They evidently 

 breed in that lake. Mr. Dodge had the good luck to get 

 seven out of one flock by using both barrels, and he con- 

 siders this good shooting. There are no deer in the woods 

 there naturally, but a few have been liberated with the 

 expectation that they will multiply, since all the con- 

 ditions seem to be favorable to their existence. Moose 

 are found and caribou, when they happen to migrate 

 that way. 



I have just heard a disagreeable report. It comes from 

 sources that cannot be disputed. A barber in the town of 

 Arlington, Mass., has returned from a shooting and fish- 

 ing trip to the West Branch of the Penobscot, in Maine. 

 He got home before the legal season on deer had opened, 

 or must have started before that date. But he brought 

 home three deer, or there were three deer shown by him. 

 My informant says that he boasts of shooting deer and 

 partridges galore out of season. 



Mr. James D. Kinsley is back in Boston and into the 

 wool trade from summering in Andover, Me., where he 

 goes annually with his wife and children. He is an 

 enthusiast with rod and line. But he says that the brook 

 fishing in that section has been greatly injured by the 

 drought. Brooks that usually carry a good volume of 

 water have been dried up.this summer, and there is danger 

 that they are greatly harmed as trout brooks. Partridges 

 he says are most remarkably plenty, though he had but 

 little of the open Beason. Deer he saw a number of times 

 when on his fishing trips. He thinks that more people 

 have been at the Upper Dam the past season than ever 

 before, and the Richardson and Beaver ponds have been 

 very extensively fished, or fished with a good deal of 

 persistence. Alas for those noble ponds! the ideal fish- 

 ing grounds of J. Parker Whitney and Sam Betton! They 

 too are doomed to be fished out. But these sportsmen in 

 days gone by took only a few trout for the table. Now 

 the fishermen who go there brag of hundreds taken to be 

 wasted. 



The extremely dry weather continues in Maine, though 

 there has generally been rain enough to extinguish the 

 forest fires. But if the rain continues to hold off, the 

 danger will be great, especially when the leaves are all off 

 the trees. The dry weather is Btopping the mills and 

 factories, and in many cases the operatives have taken to 

 the woods for extended hunting and camping, simply for 

 want of something else to do. A report from Madison, 

 Me., to-day says that the woolen mills are shut down for 

 want of water in the Kennebec, and a number of the 

 operatives have gone north into the woods for a fortnight's 

 stay and deer and partridge shooting. A Bridgton, Me., 

 report says that the mills there are shutting down for 

 want of water, and that some of the men have gone away 

 on gunning trips. 



Oct. IS.— More of the deer hunters are departing and 

 getting ready, Mr. Win, H. Coggin and Mr. S. Mather- 



son, Jr., are off for the wilds of Aroostook county beyond 

 Kingman. They will be joined by some friends of Mr. 

 Coggin in Maine. They have organized a camp there, 

 and have their guides and everything in readiness. They 

 expect a couple of deer each, and will be about as likely 

 to get them as any party that tries, for the section is an 

 ideal one and the guides are experienced. Mr. Coggin is 

 a new convert to Maine shooting. A couple of years ago 

 he shot his first deer in that State, and has been an en- 

 thusiast ever since. An account of his adventures was 

 given in the Forest and Stream at the time. F. W. 

 Tucker and Fred Bemes are a couple of young Boston 

 gunners who have been at the Upper Dam on a shooting 

 and fishing trip. Each has shot his deer— his first one — 

 and they are now hunters during life. They were ac- 

 companied by a friend from Lawrence. Senator W. P. 

 Frye, of Maine, is out from camp — his own — in the Cup- 

 suptic Narrows. He is reported to have shot a deer before 

 breaking camp. He also saw a caribou on one of his 

 hunting trips, but was not fortunate enough to get him. 

 Several moose are reported seen in the vicinity of the 

 Rangeleys. Special. 



GRASS LAKE, ILLINOIS. 



Misfortunes of a Day's Hunt. 



J. K. and I had made up our minds to have a good time 

 at the opening of the hunting season, Sept. 15, by spend- 

 ing one day at fishing and one day at hunting. We left 

 Chicago Friday, Sept. 13, and arrived at Antioch safe, 

 where Robert awaited us and took us to his hotel. We 

 got everything in readiness for the next day's fishing and 

 started out early next morning. We fished all morning, 

 but did not get a strike, as the bass would not bite; bo we 

 went home, and after dinner we decided to be boys once 

 more and have some fun with the small fish. Luck 

 seemed to be against us, as all we could catch were two 

 sunfish. We went back to the hoube in disgust, but with 

 the hope of having a good day's shoot next day. 



We left shore next morning about 4 o'clock with the 

 intention of going to some place near Hackberry Island, 

 which is nearly a two hours' row from Robert Selter's 

 shore, as the wild rice is very thick this time of the year. 

 We rowed up the channel about half-way to the forks, 

 where both of us stopped. We heard somebody calling 

 as if in distress. We listened and heard them calling for 

 help. We answered their call and turned our boats in 

 the direction of the call. We found that we would either 

 have to row around the channel or push through the 

 rice. We finally got through the rice in the open water. 

 There we could see in the distance a dark form. On reach- 

 ing the spot we saw two men standing in the water and 

 hanging to a boat and shivering with the cold so badly that 

 it was a difficulty for them to talk. They had started out 

 with two boats that were dry and leaky, and thought 

 they could reach the forks in safety, but they went down 

 before they got half-way there. J. K. got in my boat and 

 gave the boys his to go home in, and we started back to 

 the channel; and what a job it was with two in one boat! 

 We got through O K, but thought it would be too late 

 to goto Hackberry Island, and it was then 5:15 o'clock 

 and they were shooting all around us. We rowed up the 

 channel a way and pulled our boat up on shore and got 

 ready for shooting. The sun was not up yet, but it was 

 light enough to shoot, although it was cloudy and 

 looked as if the sun would not come out at all 

 that day. I had a few shots, but missed them 

 both. Then J. K. shot and got one. He had no more 

 than got the bird in the boat when along came a man 

 who pulled his boat up on our shore, pulled back his 

 coat to show his star and said: "I am the deputy game 

 warden." 



J. K. said: "What can we do for^you?" (thinking him- 

 self safe). 



"You are violating the game laws by shooting before 

 sunrise." 



We were both thunder struck and looked at one an- 

 other in amazement, as neither of us would ever think of 

 violating any game laws; in fact, we kept some of the 

 hunters from going out on the 14th to shoot. The deputy 

 took both our guns and said to J. K,: "Come along with 

 me and I will fix it up in a few minutes." J. K. went 

 with him and fixed it up by leaving a deposit of § 10 to 

 appear at the Columbia Club, Fox Lake. He then gave 

 us back our guns and said with a smile, "You can shoot 

 now," although the sun was not up, nor did it rise until 

 7 o'clock. I asked the deputy what time the sun was 

 supposed to rise. He said 5:30 o'clock. At that rate we 

 had been shooting ten minutes before time. That, it 

 seems to me, is a close call for game laws, especially 

 when a fellow has waited five months minus the ten 

 minutes. 



We went back to our blind, only to see it occupied by 

 somebody elBe. That again was discouraging. We finally 

 found a resting place. That is about all it was, as the 

 ducks would pass us on either side by about 100yds., 

 leaving us to look at others shooting. J. K. let out a 

 sigh and said: "Well, Charles, that is what we get for 

 leaving Chicago on a Friday, and on the 13th day of 

 the month too. I expected we were going to get some 

 good shooting after saving those fellows this A.M." 



I will not say how many birds we got, as neither of us 

 could hit anything after such an excitement, even if they 

 would happen to come within our reach; and those we 

 did drop would get lost in the rice — all but a few. 



I think the game laws are far from being correct in 

 regard to shooting before and after sunrise. If a stipu- 

 lated time were given, say between the hours of 6 A.M. 

 and 6 P.M., I am sure the game laws would not have 

 been violated by us; and if this is going to be kept up 

 strict, as Mr. Blow says, many a true sportsman will be 

 caught in the same trap. C. W. D. 



Mrs. Jones's Seven Deer. 



Boston, Oct. 12. — Editor Forest mid Stream: An 

 article has come to my notice published in the Forest 

 and Stream of Oct. 32, written by your correspondent 

 Special, referring to an article in our Boston papers 

 which reported the killing of a buck by my wife, Mrs. 

 Jones. Special says that "it is to be hoped that this story 

 is true, but thinks it very like one told for a couple of 

 years in succession," and implies a possible doubt of its 

 correctness. 



Since 1878 I have passed fifteen hunting seasons in the 

 Adirondacks, most of the time in Franklin county, on a 

 tract of land owned by Mr. P. A, Ducey, located south of 



